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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Have Hope

I've been thinking a lot about that can of peas lately because I have found myself in that dry place once again. Some days it is easier than others to drag myself out of it. I just read somewhere recently that when a person finds themselves struggling to do or think anything even remotely holy, the best thing for that person to do is to focus on the present moment. Don't think about your problems or your spiritual dryness, don't think about tomorrow or a week from now. Just focus on the present moment and do what needs to be done. Eventually you will come out of it and I have found that this very narrow focus really does help.

Of course we all have heard before that we should end the day by thinking of all of the things that did go right, or if that is not possible, then hopefully we can find at least one thing that we can look at and see it as the blessing that it was, even if it seems very insignificant. For example, I filled up our big blue van with gasoline on Thursday morning. We then drove back and forth to the conference for three days, plus church on Sunday and errands on Monday and Tuesday. When we filled up last night, we found we had gotten 16.9 miles to the gallon. If any of you have a 15 passenger van like we do, you know that that is totally unheard of. In fact, in the seven years we have had this van, it has never happened! Praise God! He can even increase your gas mileage!

I guess I'm writing all of this because if there is anyone out there now, or in the future, who reads this and is in the midst of falling into despair: Have Hope. God is still there and He does pay attention to every little detail of your life, even if it does not seem like it right now.

One particularly tough day I was at a friends house and I walked into her kitchen and out jumped a little card they had taped to their cabinet. It said,

"Sacrifice, to be real, must cost, must hurt, must empty us of ourselves." Blessed Mother Teresa

Not what I particularly wanted to hear right at that moment, but now that I have it hanging in my kitchen, I find it is a good reminder to me. Also hanging on a Post-It note in my kitchen is my favorite Bible verse:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

And then last week my husband put up this quote from Bl. Charles de Foucauld:

"God uses adverse winds to blow us into port"

Whenever I come across a helpful or uplifting thought, I find that it usually ends up hanging up somewhere in my kitchen. Subliminal advertising, I suppose. Hopefully some of these have been a help to one of you.